Protective device



Jan., 27, 1948. R. s. sTETsoN 2,435,167

PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed Aug. 8, 1944 NVENTOR. /aaf-/Pr 5f 5757-601/ Bgm f. MMM

ATTOR/I/EYS Patented Jan. 27,1948

UNITED STA-TES PATENT OFFICE PROTECTIVE DEVICE Robert Se Stetson,n Bualo, N. Yz, assignor to Allied Chemicalt -Dye Corporation, New York, N. Y., aV corporation lof 'New York ApplicationlAugust 8, 1944, Serial No.,548,609 Y 4 Claims. (Cl. 128-i-141) This-invention relatesto an implovementvlnf devices for. protecting the wearer fromrirritating and harmful matter suspended-inthe atmosphere;`

dust but do not protect the head and neck of the wearer again-st irritation.y While va hood Afor pro tecting the head and heck may be wornr over the mask, in practice such hoods cause serious dis# comfort by either restricting the head movement of the wearer or by promoting accumulation of moisture and heat within the hood,`or both. Owe' ing to this discomfort, workers are prone to remove the'hoods after wearing them for a relativelygshort time even at the risk of irritating'cor otherwise injuriously affecting the eyes and skinv due to the foreign matter in the atmosphere.

It is an object ofthis .invention to'provide a novel combinationof a* hood or helmetl for the head of the wearer vand a respirator mask, which combination adequately protects the headand thereby the eyes and respiratory system of the wearer from dust, and may be worn for prolonged periods with little discomfort.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hood for the head and neck and aflteretype respirator mask'adapted to cover f the oraland nasal passages of the wearer, the hood'Y and mask being arranged to minimize" accumulationv of moisture around the head and neck and permit head movement with minimum restriction. Other objects and advantages will appear' hereinafter,

The invention involves a respirator mask adapted to cover the mouth and nasal passages `of the wearer, a hoodv readily permeable *to water Vapor and air butresistant to passage Vof dust adapted to cover'the mask and head of 'the wearer,.the mask beingprovidedwith an'inhala'- tion inlet. equippedv with an air filter )within'the' hood and anv exhalation outlet: discharging throughV iiexible means exteriorly" of thehood;L

The invention promotes circulation of relatively dry air inthe space betweenthe hood and head ofthe wearer and discharge ofinoisture-laden breath without the hood, thus minimizingjaccu'fi mulation of heat and moisture around the head- The `flexible connection` Vfordischare'e lof exhaled air exteriorly of the hood is Aconstructed to permit movement of the head without' undue restriction.

The structure of the. invention and the advantages thereof Willbe more fully understood .from

thefollovving` detailed description and. from the accompanying..drawing, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the-invention, in which Fig. 1 isa lfront view-of the invention on the head of a wearer;

Fig. 2.is a side view illustrating the 'combinedl hood and maskfon the headr of a wearer, parts of. the hoodbeing shown in section; andr Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views illustrating a mod-- llied formfof connection between the hood and exhalation tube.

Referringv moreV particularly to theV drawing, referencenumeral l designates arespirator mask of the oronasal typer which covers the mouth and' nasall openings of the wearer.` The mask .com-

prises shell 2 provided with a compressible face'l mold conventionally designated at 3, adapted to form an air-excluding seal. with the facer of the wearer.l Theshell 2 is preferably constructed'of relatively rigidmaterial,e. g. metal, and the face mold isapreferablyconstructed of resilient mate# rial, suchas'natural orsynthetic rubber. The

mask is; held in posltionon the head by adjustable strap 4 secured to'oppos-ite sides ofthe shell 2 by,

any suitable means, such as snap buttons indicated at 5. The mask has anl air inlet designated by. reference numeral 6, provided with a' dustexcluding filterthrough which air to be inhaledl is drawn and with an air outlet l through which exhaledair is discharged, InA the illustrated embodiment. the. air outlet is located in the front portion of the mask at about the level of the nasalY openings of the wearer and the air inletl is disposedbelow the outlet." rlhe respirator mask described herein doesnot, per se; constitute this` invention. The generalv structure of the respiratormask,for example, may be similar to that dis-Vv closed.` by Lewis Patent 2,220,374 of November` 5, 1940s While such'masks adequately filter the air to be inhaled and 'exclude suspended solid mattei', such as'dust, from the respiratory system of the wearer, theyzdonot aord protectionv for the head and-neck.,A

Reference :numeral 8 designates J generally;` ahoodadapted tocover the entire head and neckof the wearer. The'lower portion of the hoodpref; erablyextends down over the shoulders a suiii-v cient Ydistance to prevent entry of dust. beneath` the hood.. Attached within the upper portion of the hoodis an adjustable head` geark of Couven-- tional structure involving an adjustable band 9 and .stays l0. Itwillbeobserved that thehead gear maintainszthe hood .out of contact with the` top ofrtliehead of thewearer. The hood is .prof vided lwith.ayvixzldow portion 1| l ;constitutedeof-rl transparent material such as 'glass or resin located in front of the eyes of the wearer. Il' is a drawstring by which the hood may be constricted about the neck to the extent desired. At least a substantial portion, e. g. the major portion and preferably all, of the remainder of the hood is constituted of exible fabric which is readily permeable to air and water vapor but resistant to the passage of suspended matter, such as dust; for example, the portion of the hood other than the window may be constructed of such fabric as closely woven, medium thickness cotton twill. Such fabric is light in weight, readily permeable to air and vapors, but effectively excludes dust. Any other fabric which is permeable to air and water vapor but resistant to the passage of dust, for example, fine-mesh metal screening (e. g. 200 to 300 mesh), glass cloth, and the like, may be employed. The fabric may be rendered reresistant by conventional flreproong materials.

In order to promote maintenance of a comfortable atmosphere and prevent undue accumulation of moisture and heat within the hood, it is important that the exhaled air be discharged exteriorly of the hood. For this purpose a flexible tube I2, which may be made of rubber, synthetic rubber, or other sufiiciently flexible material, extends downwardly and forwardly from the air outlet 'I of the respirator mask through a contractible opening located in the front portion of the hood at about the level of the chin of the wearer. The opening through which the tube extends may be provided by a sleeve I3 sewed on or integral with the body of the hood, which sleeve is. adapted to be closed around the exterior of the tube by drawstring I4 or elastic material, e. g. a rubber band, Alternatively, a reinforcing patch I6 may be sewed on the hood around an opening therein and the opening closed about the exterior of the tube I2 by a drawstring or elastic I1, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. A suitable valve is provided to prevent inhalation of air through the drawstring and tube I2; such valve may be a conventional flutter valve I8 or normally collapsed rubber tube design located at the outer end of tube I2, or a suitable valve may be located directly in the opening 1. As shown on the drawing, the inhalation inlet 6 of the mask is located within the hood.

In order to promote maximum comfort of the wearer, the hood is preferably of such shape that it follows generally the contour of the head and neck of the wearer; the head gear, mask and shape of the hood cooperate to maintain the portions of the hood normally out of contact with the head and neck, thus providing a free space within the hood for the circulation of air around the head'and neck. In this connection, it will be observed that the head gear maintains the fabric of the hood out of contact with the upper portion of the head and the respirator-mask prevents the hood from contacting the lower portion of the face. The neck portion of the hood is somewhat larger than and tends to hang away from the neck of the wearer. Thus, a free space for circulation of air is maintained between the hood and the head of the wearer. Of course, some contact between the hood and the wearer, especially the sides of the head and neck, may occur, particularly when the head is out of norz nal erect position.

In service, the wearer, by inhaling through the laden air exteriorly of the hood. Thus, relatively dry air is drawn into the space between the hood and the wearer's head, and tends to evaporate perspiration, to minimize condensation of moisture on window I I, and to maintain an even temperature within the hood and thereby to contribute to the comfort of the wearer. The inhalation filter acts to remove'any nely suspended particles which may pass into the hood. Some of the evaporated moisture is expelled by exhalation of the wearer and some is diffused through the permeable fabric of the hood, Flexible tube I2 extending through the hood and the shape of the hood permit a high degree of head movement without tiring restriction. The lter medium of the mask, being protected by the hood, does not require frequent replacement to maintain its efficiency. This combination of features permits the combined mask and hood to be worn for prolonged periods, e. g. several hours, without undue discomfort from accumulation of heat and moisture within the hood and undue restriction of the head movement of the wearer.

Since certain changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that the above shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Thus, for example, while it is preferred to make all the hood except the window II and the head gear of exible woven fabric permeable to air and water vapor but resistant to passage of dust, if desired, a portion of the hood may be made of impermeable, flexible fabric. However, the permeable fabric portion of the hood should be at least sufficient in extent to permit ready passage through the hood of air required for inhalation.

I claim: K

1. A device for the protection of the wearer against dust comprising in combination a respirator mask adapted to cover the oral and nasal openings of the wearer, said mask being provided with an air inlet having a filter and an air outlet, a hood adapted to cover substantially completely the head of the wearer, a portion of said hood in front of the eyes of the wearer being transparent, at least the major portion of the remainder of the hood being constructed of exible material permeable to air and water vapor and resistant to the passage of dust, flexible means for discharging exhaled air from said outlet exteriorly of said hood, said air inlet being located within said hood, whereby breathing of the wearer promotes circulation of air within said hood and discharge of moisture in the breath of the wearer exteriorly of said hood.

Y 2. A device for the protection of the wearer against dust comprising in combination a respirator mask adapted to cover the oral and nasal openings and to make air-excluding contact with the face of the wearer, a hood adapted to cover substantially completely the head and neck of the wearer and to extend over the shoulders in dustexcluding relation therewith, a portion of said hood in front of the eyes of the wearer being transparent, substantially all o-f the remainder of said hood being constituted of flexible, woven fabric permeable to air and water vapor and resistant to passage of dust, said mask being provided with an air inlet having a dust-excluding filter located beneath said hood and an air outlet, a flexible tube extending from said air outlet through a contractible opening in said hood, and a valve for preventing inhalation of air through said outlet, whereby respiration of the wearer draws air to be inhaled through said hood and said inlet, thus promoting circulation of air Within said hood, and exhaled air is discharged through said tube exteriorly of said hood.

3. A device for the protection of the wearer against dust comprising in combination a dustexcluding respirator mask adapted to cover the oral and nasal openings and to make dust-excluding Contact with the face of the wearer, said mask being provided with an air outlet in the front thereof at approximately the level of the nasal openings of the wearer and with an air inlet having a dust-excluding lter located below said outlet, a hood constituted of cotton twill adapted to cover substantially completely the head and neck of the wearer and to extend over the shoulders in dust-excluding relation therewith, said hood being of substantially the same general shape but larger than the head of the wearer and being provided with a head gear adapted to maintain said fabric out of contact with the top of the head of said wearer, said hood being provided with a contraetible opening in the front thereof at about the level of the chin of the wearer, a flexible tube extending from said air outlet downwardly through said contractible opening for discharge of exhaled air exteriorly of said hood and a valve on the outer end of said tube for preventing inhalation of air therethrough, a portion of said hood in front of the eyes of the wearer being construoted of transparent material, said head gear,

ROBERT S. STETSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,220,374 Lewis Nov. 5, 1940 128,451 Ackerman July 2, 1872 1,939,188 Schleich Dec. 12, 1933 1,930,399 Stelzner Oct. 10, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 510,491 Great Britain Aug, 2, 1939 150,945 Great Britain Sept. 16, 1920 

